Ruby+Ford


 * SUMMARY: Ruby Ford, age 26, died April 1, 1934 after an abortion perpetrated in Graber, Oklahoma by Dr. Guy E. Brewer.**

Ruby Luella Ford, a 26-year-old homemaker, died on April 1, 1934, 11 days after an abortion committed on March 20 "at the combination bachelor dwelling and office" of Dr. Guy E. Brewer, a beloved philanthropist in the small town of Graber, Oklahoma. So popular was Brewer that the husband of one of his six abortion victims was fired from his job in retaliation for reporting the death to the police.

Brewer was a quiet, small-town doctor in Garber, Oklahoma. New coverage noted, "Until today, Dr. Brewer had never been arraigned on any of the charges that have been accumulating since he was arrested" on April 30, 1935, a little over a year after Ruby's death.

Brewer had graduated from the University of Louisville in 1906 and had been practicing medicine in Garber for 21 of the 29 years he had been a physician. He supported young men during their university studies, maintaining houses for them to live in. Those he had educated over the years rushed immediately to his defense.

Though Brewer had spent many long years helping boys and young men, his impact on women's lives was evidently lightning-fast.

Hermoine Fowler, a 20-year-old coed, died in June of 1934, nine days after an abortion perpetrated by Brewer. Doris Jones, a 20-year-old mother of two, died in April of 1935. Wanda Lee Gray, age 20, Myrtle Rose , age 21, and Elizabeth Shaw , 23, of Roxanna.

Brewer was sentenced to six four-year sentences, to run concurrently, for the six abortion deaths.

Sources:
 * "Oklahoma Physician Accused of 3d Murder," // Boston Herald //, 8 May, 1934
 * "Okla. Physician Pleads Guilty in Operation Deaths," //Abilene Morning News//, Jun. 8, 1935